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Here's a surprise, last-minute plan that happened last night: I went to see
The Fantastic Four: First Steps with Gabriel and Lea—and also with Lea's best friend Josh and Josh's husband Darren.
I always forget how insanely tall Darren is. He's like a giant. A tall, gay giant. He's even taller than Gabriel. Josh is the shortest of the three of them, I think, and even Joshn is pretty tall—he seems pretty close to Gabriel's height. I feel like a shrimp standing next to them, especially the three of them together. There was a moment when we were all walking out of the movie that Lea brought this up, and I was like, "I feel so short!" She noted that she's shorter than I am. Not by much though, maybe an inch, if that—which, given that I am
of average height for a man, that would have to make Lea taller than the average woman.
Although, okay: in the U.S., apparently, the average height for men is
5'9", which I guess makes me officially short. Goddammit!
The average U.S. height of a woman is
5 feet 3.5 inches, which actually makes Lea rather tall. Either way, we both feel pretty damned short around Gabriel, Josh and especially Darren, who could perhaps use an oxygen mask.
Anyway! Gabriel and Lea and I went to dinner first. Lea, who works in Fremont, picked me up at my office on her way back from work. They all actually had tickets to see the movie at the AMC Southcenter, including Tess, but Tess forgot about it and took on a babysitting gig. This was how they wound up with an extra ticket, so Gabriel texted me Tuesday night, then got on the phone, to see if I wanted to take that ticket. The theater is in Tukwila, so at least that was a lot easier for me to consider than if they were all going to a theater in Federwal Way. This also made a 7pm showtime easier for me, especially considering the movie is mercifully only 114 minutes.
I was later told Tess was disappointed she wouldn't get to see me, which was sweet, but also amusing considering it was supposed to be her ticket to begin with, so she wouldn't have seen me last night in either scenario.
I was a little bit concerned about the proposition of pivoting my own plans, for a couple of reasons. As it happened, I already planned to see that movie on my own that very same evening—I had a seat booked for the 5pm showing at AMC Pacific Place, by myself. Laney might have joined me except she's out of town all this week. I wasn't sure how dinner would work; I am currently $132 over budget, and really trying to tighten the belt there without having to change where I have savings earmarked for other things.
Lea made reservations at a place called
JOEY—Darren later commented that "Their food is so good! But also, it's a thousand dollars." That was a slight exaggeration but he wasn't exactly off base. On the upside, we were there during Happy Hour. Lea ordered the Happy Hour "Truffle Fries & Mini Martini," which was $15. I ordered the same, thinking I could hack that—well, with some creative accounting, anyway: I wasn't going to put this in my main budget. I am setting aside $12 per month for any weekend trip I might take with Gabriel next year (since we did in both 2024 and 2025, and I would be more than happy to again; this just makes it easier). I decided I would just subtract this from that budget line item. Less money for me to spend with him next year, but he'd only have himself to blame! (I'm kidding. In all likelihood I would come in under budget anyway. That's how this approach works!)
I even asked the server for a separate check when we ordered, which Lea and Gabriel both missed. But when we paid the check, Lea insisted on covering the whole bill. I told them I had asked for a separate check, but Lea doubled down. I wasn't going to keep arguing at that point. Gabriel did say, "You have to pay Lea back for the ticket," and maybe a little too quickly I said, "No I don't!" I have an AMC Stubbs A-list membership after all, so paying for an AMC movie ticket feels especially stupid. I wasn't thinking quickly enough about the bill, though, and the ticket was cheaper anyway. So I asked Lea how much it was, but then she told me not to worry about it.
The truffle fries were amazing, incidentally. I wasn't the biggest fan of the martini, it had almost no flavor. When I commented on that, Gabriel said he was about to say it was the most "grown up" drink I had ever ordered. (I do kind of resent the implication that a cocktail is somehow an immature endeavor just because it's sweet, that makes no sense.) The server brought us a complimentary starter to share, of "Korean Fried Cauliflower," and it was so delicious I may actually take back my insistence that I hate cauliflower. (They would not have been able to do this with broccoli.) Gabriel later ordered the "Farmers Market" salad, which they also shared some of with me, and that was surprisingly delicious as well. All the food I had there was incredible.
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The dinner reservation was at 5:30. Lea made surprisingly good time after she picked me up right when I left work at 4:30, and we must have had 15 minutes to spare when we arrived at Southcenter Mall. We went inside and walked around the mall for a bit. We went inside a toy store where they had some
Labubu plush dolls—but only in display cases; they were otherwise sold out. Lea got a bit excited for a second. I was stuck by the store's electronic shelf tags, because we opened PCC Corner Market with some, but of a different make. Lea pointed out that these ones had QR codes for ordering online, which of course we aren't doing for groceries at PCC. Even for toys, though, that seemed a little pointless. Why go into the store at all? Just to see an example in person?
I wonder how long Southcenter Mall will even last. Maybe a while longer due to it being squarely in suburbia, but even Seattle's Northgate Mall has undergone massive changes with its most recent renovations—it's no longer a continuous structure you can walk from one end to another in a central pathway surrounded by stores. It may have just been a Wednesday last night, but the mall was pretty dead.
Josh and Darren arrived maybe 15 minutes before the movie showtime. We found Darren first, who immediately gave both Gabriel and Lea big hugs. There was an awkward moment while Darren looked at me, then said: "Do you want a hug?" I said, "Sure!" So then we hugged. He hugged me twice more later when we said our goodbyes two different times. Josh gave me a hug when he came up to us all after getting popcorn.
This AMC has recliner chairs that the AMC at Pacific Place does not have. I rather wish they did; the Pacific Place AMC is falling apart: the escalators
and the elevator are down, so there are signs directing customers to the back stairwell to get up to the second level. What do they do with a wheelchair user? What the hell does the wheelchair user guy who
works there do? I had to use
that staircase when I went to see
Oh, Hi! on Tuesday, and they've been directing us that way at least since July 10, when I took a few photos of it.
That particular AMC's days may be numbered to a greater degree than Southcenter Mall. Which is a bummer because it's the only AMC left in Seattle proper and that's the one where I have a subscription. If that closes and the Regal multiplex is the only one left, I might have to switch. Regal does have the reclining chairs, but AMC shows better movies.
When the movie was over last night, Gabriel and Lea, who had arrived separately, returned to their respective cars after Josh and Darren went on to theirs. Lea and Josh are longtime close friends in much the same way as Gabriel and I are, and it's interesting to see how the vibes definitively differ. Like, when Lea and Josh saw each other last night, they embraced and stayed holding each other for several beats. The degree to which Gabriel and I care about each other is certainly no less than Lea and Josh's affection for each other, we just express it very differently. Gabriel and I are not as prone to such unselfconsciously open expression of affection. The fact that we are the same gender but one of us is straight is likely also a factor, though I don't do that kind of thing with any of my friends, no does Gabriel with any of his. Come to think of it, there's probably also a generational difference at work as well; Gabriel and I are Gen X and Lea and Josh are Millennials.
Gabriel apparently still had much to do, so Lea gave me the 9-minute ride to the Tukwila Light Rail Station, which I rode all the way back to Capitol Hill Station. Shobhit had taken himself to a play, and had walked back after, so he got home shortly after I did. It was around 10:00 when I got home though so I went right to bed.
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[posted 12:31pm]
